Scott Moves Decidedly Towards Open Corruption

Are we going to be able to fire the prick over this stuff? Will it eventually get that bad?

Here’s the deal. Governor Scott’s single largest personal investment was in a chain of walk-in health care clinics (Solantic) that does drug tests, urgent care, immunizations, etc. He held $62 million in the company until he bundled his investment into a trust, which he then gave to his wife.

The conflict comes from Scott’s policies on certain health care issues. He’s balked at regulating pill mills across the state, he encourages pushing Medicaid recipients (Solantic doesn’t accept Medicaid) into private health insurance plans; Scott also wants to mandate all state workers and welfare recipients receive drug tests at their own expense (something Solantic could conceivably profit from); Scott’s also cut state money towards public health institutions that compete with private outlets like Solantic.

All this is spelled out in better detail on the source link at the bottom. But basically, we have a guy who’s biggest shame-factor during the gubernatorial campaign was his record fines incurred during his management of the finances of a large health care corporation. Now, the same guy, is deregulating public health care, shutting down support for state funded insurance, and forcing the population to spend more of its money at private health care facilities – some of which Scott directly owns a substantial investment in. Except that in Florida, it’s not illegal for Scott to pursue these policies because, remember, he gave the investment to his wife.

Yay!

Most states, as well as the federal government, forbid the kind of share shuffle Scott used.

But in Florida, nothing bars Scott from promoting policies that could benefit a company from which his family benefits financially.